Embers of Embers

Chapter 497 The Return
Yernweg, the naval port of the Cape of Fury.
This is a secret port located at the end of the wilderness in the northern part of Inverg. Because the overall terrain is like a sharp point protruding from the land, and the waves constantly crashing on the rocks below, this place is named the Cape of Fury Military Port.
Inverg once tried to develop the desolate north, but gave up due to various reasons. Of course, these rhetoric were superficial. In fact, it was secretly developed as a military facility. After several years of development, it was finally It has become what it is now.
It is directly controlled by the purification agency. It can be regarded as the second heart of the purification agency. It has complete military and research facilities. It serves as a secret port and is also engaged in industrial development.
It was in this desolate land that people dug out strange crude oil from the depths of the soil and turned it into the lacquer antimony used today through complex processes. The train that originally carried Lorenzo and Lawrence The destination was here, but fortunately it was finally blown up into the sky, keeping the secrets here hidden from view.
Perhaps because it was close to the north, or perhaps because it was too desolate, Arthur couldn't help but feel a bit of winter-like coldness when he walked here.
Looking around, apart from the rocks and grass, there are tall man-made buildings, like a steel jungle rising from the wasteland.
He stopped and stood still, looking at these giant steel beasts.
They are new iron-clad ships one after another, using lacquered antimony as fuel and carrying weapons derived from the eternal pump. This will be an invincible fleet, and it is also a major force that Yin Erweg is confident in starting a war. The reason is that they have been parked here for too long.
The early morning fog completely engulfed the place, not limiting the view but adding a lot of mystery.
But today’s focus is not on them, but on a guest who has yet to arrive.
"Judging from the time, Lorenzo and the others should have already set sail," Arthur glanced down at his pocket watch and looked toward the boundless north. "Full of responsibilities and expectations, I hope they bring back good news."
"I think he was probably wondering why no one came to see him off. He was obviously given high hopes, but he just left like this."
The voice sounded. It was a woman sitting in a wheelchair. She was wrapped in a thick coat. There was a medical team on standby in the distance.
"Probably... This should be the farthest place you have been to in recent years. I remember that when you came here last time, there were not so many buildings here, it was just a construction site still under construction."
Arthur walked to the queen's side and stood with her, waiting for something here.
"Yeah, everything changes so quickly."
The Queen looked greedily at the surrounding scenery, the endless sky above her head, the vast and desolate wilderness, the twisted and hideous buildings, and the blue sea in front of her.
She is like a prisoner temporarily released from prison. If possible, the Queen really wants to engrave everything she has seen into her mind.
"Every time I see this, I feel ridiculous. As a queen, I know so little about my country."
the queen said sadly.
Arthur didn't know what to say, he put his hands behind his back and stared straight ahead.
The atmosphere fell silent. Neither of them knew what to say to pass the time. They could only stare ahead and maintain this long silence until a breeze came and they poured out from the thick fog on the sea. , as if a huge monster was hiding behind the mist and breathing at the two of them.
Something is coming, from the other side of the sea.
"So... is it really as you said that day? The distance between us and them is not as far as imagined. It's just for the sake of isolation. The builders modified the map, misled the people, and put All information is locked up, isn't it?"
Arthur remembered what the queen had said and the guests he was going to see next, and he couldn't help but ask.
"Isn't this kind of thing obvious? Jiuxia's territory is spread all over the Caucasus Mountains. No matter how huge the Caucasus Mountains are, as long as you sail along its coast, you will be able to reach Jiuxia one day. But in fact, no one can arrival."
The queen said calmly, and these words made Arthur feel cold in his heart.
It's like an impenetrable fog in which all those who are not invited will be lost.
"Except for the visit decades ago, Jiuxia has no trace of their appearance anymore. They seem to have disappeared out of thin air, but sometimes some strange monks and some other people will be welcomed from the other side of the sea. Bronze artifacts. They linger around us, and when we are about to forget about them, they release some news to prove their existence."
There is a strange relationship between the Western world and the Eastern world, and sometimes the Queen cannot explain it.
"It reminds me of those conspiracy theories."
Listening to the Queen talking about this, Arthur also remembered some interesting things, and he couldn't help but relax a little.
"Many people say that there is nothing in the east. It is just a vast sea. The Nine Summers are all lies fabricated by Yin Erweg... After all, after the Kuilong Fleet, they never appeared again. It seems that It has never been the same.”
"Yes, this is what the nation builders want, a misleading and a lie. You must know that Jiuxia and our specialization direction are different. We have a complete industrial foundation, and they have deep research on antimemes. Now the scavenger force It’s based on Jiuxia’s antimemetic technology.”
During the meeting in the basement of the Platinum Palace, due to time constraints and other reasons, the Queen actually had a lot of things that she did not say. Of course, these were minor details and did not have much impact on the development of the entire situation.
"After many years of research by the nation builders, they found that the intensity and frequency of erosion in the Western world are far higher than those in the Eastern world. In order to maintain isolation, Jiuxia built a city wall to protect itself within it and keep the evil power away. The rejection lies in the outside world.”
"City Wall?"
Arthur thought of a Great Wall that could cut off the sea lanes. It must have been as tall as a mountain and stood above the sea like a miracle.
It was a bit outrageous to think so, and Arthur was wondering if the Queen was joking.
"A city wall that does not exist, to be precise, is an antimemetic system called the 'Forgotten Great Wall'. They cover the entire eastern world. When you sail towards the east and step into the influence of antimemes, you will Will be affected by the Forgotten Great Wall.”
The Queen explained that from this point of view, Jiuxia's antimemetic technology has developed to an astonishing level.
"You will get lost in it, forget your purpose, and even forget who you are, until you give up all this and choose to return. Jiuxia relied on the Forgotten Great Wall to completely isolate and blockade itself, coupled with the intensity of erosion within their territory and frequency of occurrence are lower, the completeness of their knowledge and technology is much higher than ours, but this is only limited to the antimemetic part. You also know that when they arrived in Inverg, the ship materials were still wood."
"In other words, that meeting decades ago was, on the surface, a technical exchange between the two countries, but in fact it was a technical sharing within the country builders, right?" Arthur realized later.
"Almost, in the face of eroding memetic pollution, antimemetic technology is currently the only way out. After several years of exchanges within the Nation Builders, we regard the Nation Builders of Jiuxia as researchers and provide them with technical assistance. , conduct deeper research on antimemes, and also support their blockade, taking these main pressures on this side.”
Perhaps due to the fatigue from the journey, the Queen coughed a few times, her expression showing some pain.
"Part of the reason is to share the knowledge of the Keepers."
"Knowledge of the Keeper of Secrets?"
"Well, the Nation Builders split from the original Golden Dawn and spread all over the world. However, because of Jiuxia's Forgotten Great Wall, many people have ignored the existence of Jiuxia," the queen continued, "To be honest, many times I I almost forgot that there are also kingdom builders in the east."
"The knowledge of the secret keepers at that time enabled us to carry out an industrial revolution, but it not only contained industrial knowledge, but also related to antimemes. However, we had no research basis on antimemes at all, so we could only guard the treasure and cannot use it.
Until the arrival of the Kuilong fleet, their main purpose was to take away this advanced antimemetic technology to supplement their technology, and they also left us the basic technology, and as you can see, the scavenger troops did a good job , he made many people forget some bad memories about monsters and hid the existence of monsters behind the scenes. "
"Is that so..."
Listening to all this, Arthur was speechless and could only sigh feebly.
"Your Majesty, Lorenzo said this to me once."
"what?"
“He said that the world is shrouded in lies one lie after another and curtain after curtain.
You have seen through a lie and lifted a curtain, but maybe you are still in a bigger lie and shrouded in a bigger curtain. "
Arthur picked up the cigarette and lit it. He took a few puffs before remembering to ask.
"do you mind?"
Thinking about it carefully, I have never smoked in front of the Queen to relieve stress.
"Go on."
The queen replied calmly.
"Actually, this sentence sounds a lot more understandable now. I still remember the first day I joined the purification agency. I learned about the existence of demons and these mysterious alchemy and violent agencies. I felt at the time that I was A hero ready to save the world.
But later I discovered that the world is not that simple. After meeting Lorenzo, this feeling intensified. Unknown puzzles had answers one after another, and lies were exposed one after another. I kept breaking through the curtain, and finally came to here. "
Arthur smiled and looked sideways at the Queen.
"I'm curious about how many curtains are still hanging over my head. Will this struggle really have an end?"
"We'll have answers soon."
The Queen smiled back at Arthur.
While the two were talking, the wind in front of them became more fierce. They rolled up the mist and dispersed it. The field of vision was lengthened, and the turbulent sea was fully visible in front of them, as if there was an invisible big hand splitting the world.
The melodious whistle sounded, and the red flag slowly rose behind the fog.
They were prepared in advance, but when this moment came, everyone's hearts changed slightly. As if something had been touched, ferocious monsters emerged from the sea and strode towards them.
It wasn't until we got closer to a hundred meters that we could see the ferocious face clearly. It was just the painting on the ship. It was different from the expected iron-clad ship. Although the whole was still made of steel, the decoration of its appearance maintained a strong style, with an arc shape. Cloud patterns covered the hull, and the flag was raised at the front.
It seems to be a beast traveling on the sea. There were hundreds of such beasts a few decades ago, but for some reason, it is the only one here now.
That's enough.
After decades, the people of Jiuxia walked out of the Forgotten Great Wall and set foot on the Western world again.
As the ship slowly entered the harbor, the thick fog that covered the early morning gradually dissipated. Only then could we see that there were not only Arthur and the Queen, but also a large number of entourage, some of whom served as guards and others as guards. Translator, everyone looked very excited, especially the translator.
It is difficult for others to understand the excitement in Rhode's heart at this moment. He still remembers his childhood yearning for the mysterious East. From then on, he determined to study the mysterious Jiuxia. He studied hard and was admitted to the best university. Under the puzzled eyes of everyone, he devoted himself to the language course, and learned Jiuxia language under the guidance of his tutor for many years.
On the day he left the army, he was like a warrior about to embark on a journey, ready to make a name for himself with his skills. But at this sacred moment, his mentor apologized to him in great pain.
Rhodes was puzzled.
The mentor said very sadly that since they appeared at the port of Rendona decades ago, the Jiuxia people have never appeared again, and the channel to the east has never been opened.
Rhodes' world collapsed at that moment. It felt like he had spent more than 20 years learning martial arts that dominated the world, but on the day he started, his master raised a gun and said to him, "Hey! Rhodes, this thing is much easier to use than martial arts!"
I thought that the congestion in my heart would never be resolved, but then Rhodes, who was proficient in Jiuxia language, was recruited into the purification agency as a special talent, and he remains until today.
The ship stopped, and as everyone watched, a knight stepped off the ship.
In fact, everyone present is not sure whether to call this man a knight. Although he is wearing a suit of armor, it is obviously completely different from the armor known to the Western world. It does not look bulky, and most of it is made of metal scales. It is wrapped around the edges of clothing and key parts of the body. Compared with traditional armor, it is much lighter.
He had a sword tied around his waist, but he had a gun bag on his back with an exquisite spear stuck in it.
Then everyone saw the face of the knight. It was an old man with gray hair, but his dark eyes revealed light. He saw the queen, recognized her at a glance, and laughed before moving forward.
"I suppose you are now Queen Victoria."
Surprisingly, this old man can actually speak Western dialect. Although he has a vague accent, at least he has no difficulty in communicating.
"This isn't the first time we've met."
The Queen smiled and held out her hand from her wheelchair.
"I know that our Zuo family's greatest advantage is our good memory. I remember you. You were still a child when you were with your mother. It's been such a long time."
The old man and the queen held each other's hands. He looked happier than everyone present, and his eyes were still looking around while talking.
"I never thought I would have the chance to set foot on this land again." The old man sighed, "Time flies. The last time I set foot on this land, I was still a young boy, but now I am a bad old man."
"Now there are new changes in Yin Erweg. For you, this will also be a new world."
"Is that so?"
There was a lot of expectation in the old man's eyes.
"Anyway, welcome back, the builder of the country, General Zuozhen."
　1. Thank you for your monthly ticket support, thank you boss, the boss is very generous.
2. I am working hard to adjust and recover, and I should be able to update more stably.
　
(End of this chapter)